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To kill a mockingbird a character study essay
To kill a mockingbird a character study essay
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The art of deception is known to lie in various places: superheroes, lies, appearances, and within one's self. It is very well known by everyone. It holds a common ground for a complex characters, and an unknown yet unnecessary piecework for characters of a simple, static nature. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a small girl named Scout who finds herself in the midst of racism and deception. The novel as well as reality is sporadic about usage of deception. A certain contradistinction defines the collective population. Therefore, synchronization of people is uncommon. This disarray of people is played in a convincing portrayal of characters in the novel. Harper Lee's characters, who are both fallacious in appearance or have a forthright portrayal, reveal her contemplation of deception.
To begin, fallacious appearances of Boo Radley and Dolphus Raymond demonstrate how one can never truly know somebody until meeting him or her. This being so, Boo Radley's rumoured appearance and his true self display Lee's negativism of deception. From the starting moments, Jem, Scout, and Dill all have a lingering fear and distress toward Boo. This unease attaches itself onto the kids for the remainder of the book. This distress is caused by false rumours spread throughout the town that leave the children into belief of deception of the townspeople, which include Boo Radley. It is only in the final pages of the book that Scout finds out who Boo truly is. As Scout says, "they didn't know what he looked like...when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things...he was real nice" (Lee, 376). This deception hides truth from reaching the light. Boo Radley truly is the hero, for he saves Jem and Scout from murder. Oth...
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...Bob Ewell, these two characters hint at one side of Lee's contemplation.
These characters are not all in Lee's work; they along with others join forces to create Lee's tone of contemplation toward deceptive appearances. A negativism of deception appears through the inevitable rumors of certain characters. However, deception can also appear as a unnecessary trait in a character's portrayal. Lee sees this, and she uses it for a fictitious novel that illustrate the cold, hard truth of reality. The example of the most simple deception is a liar. However, the truth could be much more deceiving. Self-deception of a mind of wishful thinking could go a long way in a positive outlook. There are many sides to deception, but to be educated in such an art can lead into benefit or detriment.
Works Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1982. Print.
Throughout the book we watch the narrator, Scout Finch, go from a naive first grader that think Maycomb is the best place out there, to finally maturing and understanding the world around her. Throughout the book Scout is impressioned by so many people that Boo Radley is a monster that should be kept in at all times. Later we learn he isn’t, but one of the first impressions we get from him is a brute
Patrick Rothfuss, author of award winning novel, The Name of the Wind, once noted, “When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” Such is the case for Scout Finch, Harper Lee’s protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the exposition of the novel, Scout is an immature and nonchalant six-year old who believes her neighbor, Boo Radley, is a malevolent phantom. Jem’s reaction to the Tom Robinson trial helps Scout to understand many life concepts. Once Boo Radley reveals himself, she sees him as Boo: the human being, and not Boo: the malevolent phantom. Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird exhibits a coming of age theme by Boo Radley and Scout’s relationship and Scout’s and Jem’s experiences and life edifications had through the trial.
Boo Radley is the next door neighbor of the Finch’s. He is an outsider of the community, because he does not leave the house. He got in some trouble as a teenager, so his father locked him up inside the house. After his father died, his brother moved in with him. While Boo was locked up inside is house, the people of Maycomb County made up stories about him. The legend of Boo Radley was well-known to the people of Maycomb. Jem describes Boo, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (Lee ). Boo is an innocent character because all he does stay inside his own house, and does not bother anybody. Yet the entire town believes that he could be a murderer. Harper Lee is showing that if you do not fit into southern society, they will make you into an outsider and a bad legend. Another example of Boo Radley being an innocent character is when he gives a blanket to Scout. Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of the Finch’s neighbors, had a house fire. Atticus (Scout and Jem’s father) woke up the kids and made them go outside, in case the fire spread to their house. While Scout was not looking someone gave her a blanket, “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.’”(Lee ). Boo Radley is an innocent character because he helped warm up Scout in the cold, yet Scout was still scared that Boo had been near here. Harper Lee is showing us that Boo could do a nice thing, and yet Scout would still be scared because of his reputation. Finally, another
Honesty is very brutal in the character of Mrs.Dubose, one of the subtle more challenging characters Lee uses to show the topic of honesty. Mrs.Dubose shows the theme that brutal honesty is better than no honesty at all. On her inevitable death bed Mrs.
When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.
As Scout and Jem Finch’s summer began, they started to suspect that Boo Radley was a monster. They started playing games about him and making fun of him, and acting as if he was unlike them. For example,
One thing Scout and Jem learn are people and events aren't always the same as we believe. At the beginning of the book both Scout and Jem are afraid of Boo Radley. In the town Boo is referred to as a malevolent phantom and is feared by most children. The children make many quick judgments about Boo from the rumors they have heard. Dill who doesn’t even live in Maycomb has heard the rumors and has made a snap judgment about him. “I hope you've got it threw your head that he’ll kill us each and every one” (Lee 14). Dill doesn’t know or understand what happens Boo’s life. This is just the imagination of a seven year old running wild after hearing so many rumors. Because of all the rumors they have heard and believed the kids are afraid of Boo
Boo Radley is thought to be a malevolent, soulless, deceitful person, but he proves to be a caring, good-natured person. In Chapter 1, Jem offers his perception of Boo Radley to Scout and Dill: " ‘Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time’ " (16). Jem perceives Boo Radley as being a “monster” instead of being a man. Jem comes to this conclusion despite having never even seen Boo Radley in person. Jem’s understanding of Boo Radley is based on the rumors that he has heard about him. In Chapter 8, after the fire at Miss Maudie’s house, Scout notices that she was wrapped in a blanket that she did not have with she left the house. Scout asks Atticus who was the person that put the blanket around her. Atticus tells Scout, "Boo Radley. You were so busy watching the fire you didn't know it when he...
Maycomb, a tired, slow moving town, has minimal events occurring. The town’s rumors and gossip circulate around allowing it to endure. Childness and livelihood are present through the novel for characters, but not for the Finch children. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee thoroughly examines the thematic development of innocence being robbed and how Jem, Scout, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley’s innocence is stripped during events such as the Tom Robinson trial, along with when Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout.
...l along Boo just wanted to have someone to call a friend because of suffering from lonesome. Even though he may have been involved in the fires and other acts he did in Maycomb he was not like what anyone said a bout being a nocturnal monster or a heartless person. Boo was a normal human being living in his own world for the longest time till he broke out of his shell when Scout and him met on Halloween night. The Change that happens in the Radley house is dramatic Boo goes for being the towns "night phantom" to being a Hero in the end. Lastly how did Scout have the courage to walk up to the Radley's porch was because Scout believed Boo to be a big hero for what he had done. Another reason Scout had walked with Boo home was to go see Jem who was there from when Boo carried him from the fight that night back home. Scout saw Boo as a positive at the end of the story.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Separate Peace by John Knowles were two novels full of deception but in different ways. To Kill a Mockingbird was a novel with deceptive actions rather than deceptive character builds. The actions were necessary in the story to prove the honesty in other characters. Mrs. Dubose and Mr. Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird were characters based on deception towards the children, Jem and Scout. Miss Gates was never really open about her views on persecution and deceived Scout in the process. A Separate Peace has a deceptive character. The character Gene seemed almost based on deception towards every other character in the novel. Deception is the most important theme in A Separate Peace and To Kill a Mockingbird
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.
As the book comes to a close, readers can see just how mature and empathetic Scout has become. After Scout and Jem, Scout’s brother, are saved by Arthur “Boo” Radley, the town shut-in, Scout walks Boo home and after he walks back into her house, she turns around and just stares out at the street from Boo’s point of view instead of from her own. Her father taught her that you should
The second form of deception that Lerner informs us of is choosing not to reveal all unless asked directly. This is avoiding having to tell the truth, which Lerner believes is deception. Lerner argues that silence is a lie. She believes that by not saying anything and keeping the truth to yourself, you are lying. She has had her own past experiences where she has kept silence, and she felt guilty after.
As the novel progresses, the children’s perspective towards Boo Radley matures and this replicates the development of the children. Boo Radley was once an intelligent child, only to be ruined by his cruel father, one of the most important mockingbirds as his innocence was destroyed. Luckily for Jem and Scout, Boo was merely a source of childhood superstition, often leaving presents for them.